FREEDOM of information pioneer Heather Brooke's book, The Silent State, out this week, shows how the MPs' expenses scandal is just the tip of the iceberg for Secret Britain plc.

The best suggestion is that taxpayers help bankroll local and community newspapers, rather than pumping cash into councils' own propaganda sheets such as Liverpool's City Life, which costs £100,000, to massage the egos of Corporal Wearing Badley and Co.

Far better to scrap PR hand-outs in favour of proper journalism, able to scythe through the self-promotional waffle.

And when it comes to straight talking, what's all this nonsense about replacing the word obese in Liverpool council junk mail with the phrase “unhealthy weight”.